System for obtaining data regarding customer use of interactive television

ABSTRACT

A system and method for obtaining data regarding customer use of interactive television, comprising one or more application servers including one or more application programs for the input of information by a customer through a graphical user interface; a broadcast center; a communications satellite; one or more individual satellite dishes for receiving one or more application programs from the communications satellite; one or more integrated receiver/decoders (“IRDs”) with a modem, said IRDs further comprising callback functionality and flash memory for storing a data log of customer transaction and navigation information, wherein said modem is in electronic communication with one or more communications servers for receiving callbacks from the IRDs; one or more communications servers for receiving the callback in electronic communication with one or more interactive servers; one or more interactive servers in electronic communication with one or more interactive data repositories IDRs for storing data. The interactive server may comprise a parser of the data in the data log and an encapsulator of the information into appropriate protocol for database users, said interactive server being in electronic communication with one or more IDRs. The IDR may be in communication with an interactive business system (“IBS”) wherein data in the IDR is correlated with data in the IBS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention generally relates to methods and systems forcollecting and recording data and communication functionality indatabases and more particularly to methods and systems for collectingand recording navigation and transaction data regarding customer use ofinteractive television.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Satellites have had a significant impact on the televisionindustry. With an orbital location so far from earth, satellitestransmit a usable signal over a broad footprint. The large geographicalcoverage of satellite makes it possible to serve thousands, if notmillions, with a single satellite. People use individual satellitedishes for direct to viewer (“DTV”) television systems. Recently,interactive television has become available. With interactivetelevision, a viewer can make transactions or navigate informationsystems through applications made available through the DTV system.

[0005] The basic components of a satellite system are one or moretransmitting earth stations, the uplink, the satellite, the downlink,and one or more receiving earth stations. The communications satelliteis a radio relay operating in space for ten or more years without theneed for on-site servicing or adjustment. Satellites containtransceivers that receive and transmit signals, including videoprogramming, telephone calls and data. They operate in a vacuum at alocation exposed to extreme temperature changes.

[0006] Presently, there is no system or method for obtaining navigationand transaction data regarding customer interactive television actionsin an Information Data Repository (“IDR”). Only providers of content,such as banks providing transactions, can obtain such data, while thedata is generally unavailable to the information broadcaster and others.Present smart card systems can only log and transmit very limited viewerpreference information due to the limited available memory and aninability to access the user input data. The use of flash memory allowsfor the download of data logs through callbacks from the integratedreceiver/decoders (“IRDs”) used in satellite television systems.Furthermore, a system for extraction of this data would be preferablyscalable to accommodate future growth. Such a system and method wouldenable convenient transactions and precise recording of user patterns.There is also a need for a system and method for the collection,administration and management of the information that is provided andprocessed by the various interactive television applications to and fromgeographically dispersed operating companies.

[0007] It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of theaforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that thepresent invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides a system and a method for storinginteractive television data in an interactive data repository (“IDR”)for access by the information broadcater and others. Each interactivetelevision application contains programs and/or libraries. The programsand libraries collect specific data pertaining to individual businessneeds. The data is stored in a memory such as flash memory in thecustomer's IRD. Depending upon the application, the data is communicatedto a communication server at an operating company through a modem atreal time or at scheduled intervals. The data is then communicated to aninteractive server and then stored in an IDR.

[0009] The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the priorart by allowing customer use of interactive television data to becollected in an interactive data repository (“IDR”). The data may bedownloaded from the IRDs of the customer without requiring the customerto do anything other than normal transactions and navigation withininteractive television applications. The IDR may be correlated with aninteractive business system (“IBS”) database, which contains informationabout the downloading IRD, such as the identity of the customer andother information about the customer. In accordance with the purpose ofthe invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the inventionis a system and method for obtaining data regarding customer use ofinteractive television, comprising one or more application serversincluding one or more application programs for the input of informationby a customer; a broadcast center for communicating one or moreapplication programs with a communications satellite; one or moreindividual satellite dishes for receiving one or more applicationprograms from the communications satellite in electronic communicationwith one or more integrated receiver/decoders (“IRDs”); a Graphical UserInterface (“GUI”) for a customer to input information into theapplication program and in electrical communication with one or moremodems, wherein the IRDs comprise callback functionality and flashmemory for storing a data log of customer transaction and navigationinformation, wherein said one or more modems are in electroniccommunication with one or more communications servers for receivingcallbacks from the IRDs; one or more communications servers forreceiving the callback; and one or more interactive servers inelectronic communication with one or more interactive data repositories(“IDRs”) for storing data.

[0010] In further accordance with the purpose of the invention, asembodied and broadly described herein, the interactive server of theinvention comprises a parser of the data in the data log and anencapsulator of the information into appropriate protocol for databaseusers, said interactive server being in electronic communication withone or more IDRs, wherein the IDR is in communication with aninteractive business system (“IBS”) wherein data in the IDR iscorrelated with data in the IBS.

[0011] It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are explanatory andare not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanyingdrawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of thespecification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention andtogether with the general description, serve to explain principles ofthe present invention.

[0012] In accordance with these and other objects which will becomeapparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described withparticular reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 illustrates the architecture of the hardware components ofthe present invention.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the data flow from thecustomer's IRD to the IDR.

[0015]FIG. 3A is an illustration of the form of the data for eachcustomer action being stored in the IDR.

[0016]FIG. 3B is an illustration of the form of the customer action datalog being stored in and downloaded from the IDR.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating data flow from the IRD tothe user's top level application in the preferred embodiment.

[0018]FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating data flow in an alternativeembodiment of the invention.

[0019]FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating data transmission in analternative embodiment of the invention.

[0020]FIG. 7 is an alternative embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, the system architecture of the presentinvention 100, a system for obtaining data regarding a customer'sinteractive television use, is shown.

[0022] One or more application servers 110 carries one or moreapplication programs 120. The application program 120 may provideinformation to the customer, communications functionality such ascommunication with a bank, or electronic commerce functionality, or anycombination of these services. The preferred application server 110 is aSun Ultra 5 server, although an NT server or equivalent server may beused. The application program 120 may be one written in OpenTV or anequivalent language. The application program 120 allows the input ofinformation by a customer. The application program 120 is transmitted toa broadcast center 130. Transmission to the broadcast center 130 may bevia a terrestrial T1 link or its equivalent. The application program 120is then uplinked to a communications satellite 140, preferably a G8isatellite or equivalent. One or more customers, at a location within thesatellite's footprint, in South America for example, receives theapplication program 120 via his or her individual satellite dish (“ISD”)150, and then into one or more integrated receiver/decoders (“IRDs”)160.

[0023] The IRD 160 is connected to the customer's graphical userinterface (“GUI”) 170. The GUI 170 is preferably the customer'stelevision connected to a standard remote or keyboard as is known in theart, whereby the customer makes transactions or navigates through aninteractive television interface portion of the application program. Asthe customer navigates and performs actions in the interactivetelevision interface, the customer inputs transaction and navigationinformation into the application program 120 via the interactivetelevision interface. The information is stored in the IRD 160 as a datalog 180 of navigation data and transaction data input by the user intothe one or more application programs 120 via the GUI 170. For example,the user may impart information regarding games played, weatherrequests, advertising viewed, navigation within the interactivetelevision environment and lead generation. In addition, transactiondata such as for banking transactions may be input via the GUI 170.Preferably, the data log 180 also includes a time and date stamp foreach action by the customer.

[0024] The data log 180 is then stored within flash memory 190 withinthe IRD 160. Preferably, the flash memory 190 is stored in acommunication card with an identification number located within the IRD160. However, the data log 180 may also be stored in random accessmemory stored within the IRD 160. The preferred format of the data logis illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, described in greater detail below.Thus, in the preferred embodiment, every time a customer accesses aninteractive television application 120 and performs an action within it,the type of action and the time and date of the action within theinteractive application 120 are stored in the data log in flash memory190.

[0025] Through a callback procedure, the data log 180 is transmittedfrom the IRD 160 through a modem 200. The data log 180 is encapsulatedin a data transfer protocol. Any appropriate protocol for datatransmission may be used, such as TCP/IP or HTTP. In the preferredembodiment, the protocol is one that is proprietary to TelefonicoInvestigacion y Desarrollo, S. A.

[0026] In the callback procedure, the IRD 160 transmits the data log180. The callback may be made at certain time intervals or after a fixednumber of transactions, or upon some other standard. The data log 180 isthen communicated to a communications server 210.

[0027] The callback originates as a program within the IRD 160. Thecallback sends the data log 180 from the IRD 160 through thecommunications server 210 through the interactive server 220 and therouting application 230 within the interactive server 220 to theinteractive data repository (“IDR”) 240. In performing the callback, theIRD 160 is preferably programmed to make several attempts to transmitthe data log 180 if it fails initially to make the necessary connection.

[0028] The communications server 210 may be a server such as an AscendMax 4004. However, the communications server 210 may also be a bank ofmodems for accepting callbacks from the IRD 160. The modems may beintegral with each other or, in the preferred method, they may be leasedfrom outside sources for scalability.

[0029] After the data log 180 is transferred from the IRD 160 throughthe communications server 210, to the interactive server 220. Theinteractive server 220 strips the transfer protocol from the data log180, parses each discrete customer action within the data log 180,encapsulates each action into data with an appropriate protocol, andmultiplexes the newly encapsulated data. In the preferred embodiment,the interactive server 220 identifies a particular interactivetelevision action by a code and routes it to an appropriate IDR 240. Theinteractive server 220 encapsulates the data into TCP/IP form fortransmittal. However, other protocols are known in the art and may beused. The interactive server 220 is preferably a Sun Ultra 5 with a 333MHz CPU and 256 MB of RAM or its equivalent. As shown in FIG. 1, theinteractive server 220 includes a routing application 230 for routingthe newly encapsulated particular action data taken from the data log180 transferred via the callback. The routing application 230 ispreferably written in Unix C, however it may also be written in OpenTVor an equivalent programming language. From the routing application 230,the information regarding the particular action is communicated to oneor more interactive data repositories (“IDR”) 240. The IDR 240 ispreferably a memory storage and manipulation device, such as a computerdatabase.

[0030] In the preferred embodiment, the particular action data withinthe IDR 240 is then correlated with an integrated business system(“IBS”) 250. The IBS 250 in the preferred embodiment containsinformation that can be correlated with the information sent to the IDR240. For example, in the preferred embodiment, the IDR 240 contains anidentification number for the communications card containing the flashmemory 190 in the IRD 160 that initiated the callback. Thisidentification number is made part of the log transmitted in thecallback. The IBS 250 may include the name, biographical information andother information regarding the interactive television customer thatuses the IDR 240. Thus, information about a customer's interactivetelevision navigation and transaction habits may be derived. Clearly,this system 100 is intended to be used for a multiple of customers and acorresponding multiple of IRDs 160. In the preferred embodiment, the IBS250 is a program written in Magic and SQL on a HP9000 server or IBM RS6000/H70 server. However, equivalent programming languages and serversare also contemplated.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1, the communications server 210, interactiveserver 220, IDR 240 and IBS 250 are all in the location of the operatingcompany 260. In Latin America, an operating company 260 is often agovernment monopoly, so the operating company is in fact also anoperating country. However, an individual company that is not part of agovernment monopoly may also use this system 100. The IDR 240 and theIBS 250 may alternatively be in separate operating companies. Inaddition, in the preferred embodiment, the IDR 240 includes the abilityto generate reports using the individual action data taken from theinteractive server 220 from one or more IDR 240 downloads. Furthermore,the data in the IDR 240 may be communicated to another central IDR. Thecommunication may be performed by satellite.

[0032]FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where individualaction data including customer navigation data and transaction data isdistributed to two different interactive content providers 330A,330Bunder two different protocols. As shown in FIG. 1, the data log 180 isdownloaded from the IRD 160 in a callback via a modem 200 to thecommunications server 280. The data log 180 then flows from thecommunications server 280 to the interactive server 270. In thepreferred embodiment, as described above, the data log 180 from thecallback flows in encapsulated form. Within the interactive server 270,the data log 180 is then communicated to an Application ProgramInterface (“API”) 300. The API 300 strips the encapsulating protocolfrom the data log 180 and parses the individual transaction data fromthe data log 180. Each particular action performed by the customerpreferably has its own identification number. The API 300 examines theparticular action and looks for the identification code associated witha particular database user or interactive television content server330A,330B. The data associated with each particular action is thencommunicated via the router application 300. The router application 300puts the individual transaction data into pre-selected protocol anddistributes the data to the different content servers 330A,330B.Preferably, the router application is written in OpenTV.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, the API 300 converts the individual actiondata to different protocol forms. The interactive television action foreach content provider 310A,310B is then communicated from theinteractive server 270. For example, a bank content provider 330A mayrequire its information 310A to be in a protocol such as HTTP.Alternatively, the bank may request information to be sent to it in itsown proprietary protocol. The bank 330A thereby allows interactivetelevision customers to make secure banking transactions while theinteractive television content provider tracks the time, date and numberof transactions.

[0034] In the preferred embodiment, the data for the bank 330A iscommunicated through the interactive server 270 through a HTTP socket320A in the interactive server 270. In addition, data for a differentcontent provider 330B may be communicated through the interactive server270 via a different protocol, such as through a TCP/IP socket 320B. Thedifferent content provider 330B could obtain navigation data or customeraction data. Thus, secure communication may be made, with only a recordof the customer's action being made for the database user or interactivetelevision content provider. Other protocols are also contemplated.

[0035] For example, a deposit could be made in a bank account via aninteractive television application, and a record that a deposit was mademay be recorded, while the amount of the deposit and the account numberof the deposit may remain secure with regard to the interactivetelevision application provider. The interactive server 270 may also useother protocol sockets, such as those for IMAP and bank proprietaryprotocols. Several database users or content providers may be includedin the system. Each content provider 330A,330B may have a differentprotocol for distribution =of the information regarding an actionassociated with it. However, more data may be transferred if theprotocol is one that is not CPU intensive, such as TCP/IP.

[0036] In one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the databaseuser 330B receives the interactive television action information throughits own TCP/IP socket 335, and stores the information in its IDR 350.The database user 330B would then be able to extract a report of therelevant portions of the information 180 in the IDR 350, such as thenumber of actions, or the date, time and frequency of particularactions. In addition, a database engine 340 as is known in the art maybe used to extract information from the database user's database 350.

[0037]FIG. 3A illustrates the preferred form that the information 180 isto take. Fields may include Smart Card ID, Producer ID, Application ID,Page ID and a Time/Date/Stamp ID. For example, Smart Card ID can be usedto identify the communications card and thus, the IRD 160, from whichthe data log 180 is coming. Producer ID can identify the producer of theservices offered and accepted, Application ID can identify whichapplication from a particular producer has been accessed, Page ID maydescribe which page of several was accessed within a particularapplication, and a Time/Date/Stamp ID would identify when the individualaction occurred. However, other data names and data retrieved are alsocontemplated. The data as shown are string variables. However, it mayalso be appropriate that they be numerical. Finally, it is importantthat the data fields be of appropriate length. The lengths of thevariables in FIG. 3A are merely illustrative. FIG. 3B illustrates howthe data log 180 comprises a number of single actions.

[0038]FIG. 4 illustrates data flow during the preferred use of thesystem 100 in obtaining two types of particular action data navigationdata 370 and transaction data 380. As shown, data from variousinteractive television applications 360 may be obtained in the IRD 160and saved as a data log as described above. In the preferred embodiment,the data can include navigation data 370 from within applications suchas a gaming application, weather application, or advertisingapplication. Also, transaction data 380 may be obtained from a bankingapplication, e-commerce application or other interactive application. Ina banking application, the particular action data is preferablyencrypted. Since the nature of the particular action data in thisexample is a transaction, navigation data within the banking applicationis not obtained. Similarly, as shown at 360 in FIG. 4, e-commerceapplications or other interactive television applications may have theirdata encrypted or their data may not be defined pursuant to theparameters defined in the IRD 160. In that case, the IRD 160 may stillobtain transaction data 380.

[0039] All of the customer actions 360 are then obtained and stored inthe IRD 160 as a database of customer actions until a callback isinitiated. Upon callback, the IRD 160 transmits the actions 360 to acommunication server 215. In the preferred embodiment, the information360 is transmitted in a proprietary interactive server protocol. Thecommunication server 215 receives the callbacks in the preferredembodiment. The interactive server 220 encapsulates the individualaction data taken from the data log 180 into TCP/IP protocol andmultiplexes the data for efficient distribution. However, where anapplication is a banking application to be encapsulated in a protocolproprietary to a bank, encapsulation to a protocol before encapsulationinto the banking protocol is unnecessary.

[0040] After the interactive server 220 parses the information 360 intodata regarding particular interactive television actions, theinteractive server 220 determines the proper protocol for the transferof the information and converts that information into that protocol. Inthe preferred embodiment, each transaction is identified by a code whenit is input into the flash memory. When the transaction is parsed, theinteractive server 220 reads the code and puts the appropriateparticular action in the appropriate protocol associated with the code.That information, properly converted, is routed to the appropriatedatabase user. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the navigation data370 and the transaction data 380 are routed separately. The navigationdata 370 and the transaction data 380 are then preferably loaded 400,410into the IDR 420. The IDR 420 would interact with an IBS 430, so thedata in the IDR 420 would be correlated with the data in the IBS 430.Reports 440 may be generated from the IDR 420 alone, or aftercorrelation with the IBS 430.

[0041]FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of a system 500 for theobtainment of data from interactive television, wherein an IDR 620 iskept at a central location as well as at one or more operating companies590. In FIG. 5, the application server 510 is in a central location,such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is transmitted to a broadcastcenter 520. One or more application programs 510 are transmitted to thesatellite 530 and down to an ISD 540 into an IRD 550. The IRD 550transmits a data log of navigation and transaction information viacallback through a telephone line 560 within a country's telephonesystem. The data log is sent through a communication server 570 andinteractive server 580 as discussed above. The communications server 570and the interactive server 580 may alternatively be located at the sameoperating company. Interactive television actions 585 are thencommunicated to an IDR 590, such as an IDR 590 for a particularInteractive Content Provider (“ICP”) 630.

[0042] As described above, the operating company IDR 590 is incommunication with an operating company IBS 600. The operating companyIBS 600 preferably includes data such as the identification of thecustomer associated with the IRD 550 used for a particular interactivetelevision action 585. Thus, a customer may be accurately identifiedwith an action and may be properly billed for the action. Also, otheruses for the data may be made. The data for the particular action 585 istransmitted to the operating country IDR 590, and then may betransmitted 610 to a central IDR 620, shown in FIG. 5 to be in FortLauderdale. The file of particular actions 585 is then communicated toone or more database users, or interactive content providers (“ICPs”)630A,630B. The ICPs 630A,630B may or may not be at the location of theoperating country. Data transmission between the operating company IDR590 and the central IDR 620 in the preferred embodiment is via two-waysatellite, such as the 8 gi satellite used by Galaxy Latin America.However, other data transmission methods known in the art may also beused. The data from more than one operating company IDR 590 may thus betransmitted and held in the central IDR 620. In another embodiment, acentral IBS is correlated with the central IDR 620.

[0043] A system for the two-way distribution of information of anoperating companies IDR is further illustrated in FIG. 6 at 700. Fromeach operating company 710,720, data is extracted from the IDR 730,740and transmitted via satellite 750 to a central IDR 760 that will be ableto produce consolidated reports 770. Data in the operating company IDRs730,740 may still be correlated with one or more IBSs 780,790 withineach operating company 710,720. Preferably, the protocol for thesatellite interface would be consistent for all broadcast centers foreach operating country. The data sent to the central IDR 760 may be datafrom the operating company IDR 730,740. The data may then be correlatedwith a central IBS 800. Alternatively, the data sent may be data fromthe operating company IDR 730,740 after it has been correlated with theoperating company IBS 780,790.

[0044] In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 7, a data log900 is downloaded from the IRD 910 through a modem 920 via a callback.The communication server 930, a bank of telephone modems in thisembodiment, receives the callbacks and transmits the data log 900 to aninteractive server 940. The data log 900 is encapsulated in a datatransmission protocol, such as TCP/IP. The interactive server 940 stripsthe protocol from the data log 900, and saves the data on theinteractive server. Preferably, the data is saved as a data table.Preferably, the data table is a flat table of ASCII text. However, forother applications, the data may be saved in other forms, such as arelational database. Database users, such as the operating companies,would be able to access the data stored in the interactive server 940 bydownload from a file server, the internet or other means known in theart. An IBS used to identify a customer or provide supplementalinformation to that in the saved data could reside in the operatingcompany 950, at the facility of the interactive server 960, or both.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for obtaining data regarding customeruse of interactive television, comprising: one or more applicationservers including one or more application programs for the input ofinformation by a customer, said application server being in electroniccommunication with one or more broadcast centers; a broadcast center forcommunicating one or more application programs with a communicationssatellite; a communications satellite; one or more individual satellitedishes for receiving one or more application programs from thecommunications satellite in electronic communication with thecommunications satellite and in electronic communication with one ormore integrated receiver/decoders (“IRDs”); one or more IRDs inelectrical communication with one or more Graphical User Interfaces(“GUIs”) for a customer to input information into the applicationprogram and in electrical communication with one or more modems, saidIRDs further comprising callback functionality and flash memory forstoring a data log of customer transaction and navigation information,wherein said one or more modems are in electronic communication with oneor more communications servers for receiving callbacks from the IRDs;one or more communications servers for receiving the callback inelectronic communication with one or more interactive servers; one ormore interactive servers in electronic communication with one or moreinteractive data repositories (“IDRs”); and one or more IDRs for storingdata.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interactive server comprisesa parser of the data in the data log and an encapsulator of theinformation into appropriate protocol for database users, saidinteractive server being in electronic communication with one or moreIDRS, and the IDR stores parsed information.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the IDR is in communication with an interactive business system(“IBS”) wherein data in the IDR is correlated with data in the IBS. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication server is a bank ofmodems.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the router in the interactiveserver identifies a particular interactive television action by a codeand routes it to the appropriate IDR.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe application program is a banking application.
 7. The system of claim1, wherein the application provides information to a customer.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the interactive server encapsulates theinformation regarding a particular interactive television action intoTCP/IP protocol.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicationserver, the interactive server, and the IDR are located at the sameoperating company.
 10. The system of claim 3, wherein the communicationserver, the interactive server, the IDR and the IBS are located at thesame operating company.
 11. The system of claim 3, wherein data in theIDR is communicated to a central IDR.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein communication between the IDR and the central IDR is performedby satellite.
 13. The system of claim 3, wherein a code in the datadownloaded from the IRD is compared with the information in the IBS toallow identification of the customer.
 14. A method for obtaining dataregarding a customer use of interactive television, comprising the stepsof: providing one or more application programs on one or moreapplication servers; transmitting the application program to a broadcastcenter; transmitting the application program from the broadcast centerto a communications satellite; transmitting the application program fromthe communications satellite to one or more individual satellite dishes;communicating the application program from the individual satellite dishto one or more integrated receiver/decoders (“IRDs”); enabling acustomer to input information into the application program received bythe IRD via a GUI; inputting the information into a data log in flashmemory in the IRD; transmitting the data log via callback from the IRDto a communications server; transmitting the data log from thecommunications server to an interactive server; parsing the individualcustomer navigation and transaction data from the data log; and storingthe individual customer navigation and transaction data in one or moreinteractive data repositories (“IDRs”).
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising the steps of correlating the data in the IRD withdata in an Interactive Business System (“IBS”).
 16. The method of claim15, wherein communication of the data in the IDR with the data in theIBS enables the operator of the IBS to identify the customer associatedwith the IDR.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step ofcommunicating the data in the IDR with a central IDR.
 18. A system forobtaining data regarding customer use of interactive television,comprising: one or more application servers further including one ormore application programs for the input of information by a customer,said application server being in electronic communication with one ormore broadcast centers; a broadcast center for communicating one or moreapplication programs with a communications satellite; a communicationssatellite; one or more individual satellite dishes for receiving one ormore application programs from the communications satellite inelectronic communication with the communications satellite and inelectronic communication with one or more integrated receiver/decoders(“IRDs”); one or more IRDs in electrical communication with one or moreGraphical User Interfaces (“GUIs”) for a customer to input informationinto the application program and one or more modems, said IRDs furthercomprising callback functionality and flash memory for storing a datalog of customer transaction and navigation information, wherein said oneor more modems are in electronic communication with one or morecommunications servers for receiving callbacks from the IRDs; one ormore communications servers for receiving the callback in electroniccommunication with one or more interactive servers; one or moreinteractive servers comprising a parser of the data in the data log intoparticular actions and a router of the particular action data, whereinthe router encapsulates the particular action data into appropriateprotocol for database users, said interactive server being in electroniccommunication with one or more interactive data repositories (“IDRs”);and one or more IDRs for storing particular actions parsed in theinteractive server in electronic communication with an interactivebusiness system (“IBS”); wherein the IDR is in communication with acentral IDR, and a central IBS is in communication with the central IDR.19. The system of claim 18, wherein navigation data and transaction dataare parsed by an application program interface and distributed by arouter to IDRs of appropriate interactive television content servers.20. The system of claim 18, wherein communication between the IDR andthe central IDR is performed by satellite.
 21. A system for obtainingdata regarding customer use of interactive television, comprising: oneor more application servers further including one or more applicationprograms for the input of information by a customer, said applicationserver being in electronic communication with one or more broadcastcenters; a broadcast center for communicating one or more applicationprograms with a communications satellite; a communications satellite;one or more individual satellite dishes for receiving one or moreapplication programs from the communications satellite in electroniccommunication with the communications satellite and in electroniccommunication with one or more integrated receiver decoders (“IRDs”);one or more IRDs in electrical communication with one or more GraphicalUser Interfaces (“GUIs”) for a user to input information into theapplication program and one or more modems, said IRDs further comprisingcallback functionality and flash memory for storing a data log ofcustomer transaction and navigation information, wherein said one ormore modems are in electronic communication with one or morecommunications servers for receiving callbacks from the IRDs; one ormore communications servers for receiving the callback in electroniccommunication with one or more interactive servers; one or moreinteractive servers receiving the data log and placing the data into aninteractive data repository (“IDR”) in the form of a data table; and oneor more interactive business systems (“IBS”) in electronic communicationwith the IDR, wherein the IBS has data which correlates data in the IDR.22. The system of claim 21, wherein the data table is a flat ASCII datatable.
 23. The system of claim 21, wherein the data table is arelational data table.
 24. An integrated receiver/decoder (“IRD”) foruse in a system for obtaining data regarding customer use of interactivetelevision, wherein the system comprises: one or more applicationservers further including one or more application programs for the inputof information by a customer, said application server being inelectronic communication with one or more broadcast centers; a broadcastcenter for communicating one or more application programs with acommunications satellite; a communications satellite; one or moreindividual satellite dishes for receiving one or more applicationprograms from the communications satellite in electronic communicationwith the communications satellite and in electronic communication withone or more IRDs; one or more IRDs in electrical communication with oneor more Graphical User Interfaces (“GUIs”) for a user to inputinformation into the application program and one or more modems, saidIRDs further comprising callback functionality and flash memory forstoring a data log of customer transaction and navigation information,wherein said one or more modems are in electronic communication with oneor more communications servers for receiving callbacks from the IRDs;one or more communications servers for receiving the callback inelectronic communication with one or more interactive servers; one ormore interactive servers receiving the data log and placing the datainto an interactive data repository (“IDR”) in the form of a data table;and one or more interactive business systems (“IBS”) in electroniccommunication with the IDR, wherein the IBS has data which correlatesdata in the IDR.